Forest fire near Chernobyl boosts radiation level

The blaze has spread to about 100 hectares (250 acres)

Authorities said 130 firefighters and two planes were laboring to put out the fire

Updated 05 April 2020

AP

April 05, 2020 12:20

MINSK, Belarus: A forest fire is burning in the evacuated area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and is causing elevated radiation levels, authorities said Sunday.
The blaze has spread to about 100 hectares (250 acres), said Yehor Firsov, head of Ukraine’s state ecological inspection service.
The emergency services ministry said 130 firefighters and two planes were laboring to put out the fire. It said radiation levels had increased at the fire’s center.
The blaze is within the 2,600-square-kilometer Chernobyl Exclusion Zone established after the 1986 disaster at the plant that sent a cloud of radioactive fallout over much of Europe. The zone is largely unpopulated, although about 200 people have remained there despite orders to leave.

Russia reports 8,984 new coronavirus cases, 134 deaths

The total death toll in the country has reached 5,859

Updated 18 min 1 sec ago

Reuters

June 07, 2020 07:35

MOSCOW: Russia reported 8,984 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours on Sunday, pushing the total number of infections to 467,673.
Officials said 134 people had died during the same period, bringing the official nationwide death toll to 5,859.